Adm. Rickover Left Lasting Legacy

When Adm. Hyman Rickover died Tuesday he left behind a record of accomplishment even longer than the list of opponents he took on during his 63 years in the U.S. Navy.

That is high praise for a man who was noted for his bullying disposition and political in-fighting as well as his brilliance.

Rickover Rickover used all three of those weapons as he pushed the atomic principles that earned him the title, father of the nuclear Navy. His vision created a military force that, in an era of Soviet scientific and military advance, still is clearly superior to anything the U.S.S.R. can put on or under the water.

Rickover, born in Czarist Russia in 1900, served 13 presidents, including several who tried to usher him into civilian life. With help from congressional allies, he outmaneuvered his White House antagonists for 30 years before President Ronald Reagan forced his retirement in 1982.

In 1985, the irascible admiral was caught up, as a minor player, in the defense contracting scandals that found major U.S. military suppliers selling toilet seats for $600, padding expense accounts, and showering favors on influential government connections.

Rickover, it was revealed, had accepted $67,000 in gifts from General Dynamics over a period of 17 years.

He waded through that controversy the same way he navigated dozens that preceded it -- aggressively. Many of the gifts, he said, were doodads that he passed on to members of Congress.

Reagan praised Rickover as a man whose ``commitment to excellence and uncompromising devotion to duty were integral parts of American life for a generation. The nuclear-powered submarines, cruisers and aircraft carriers deployed through the world today in defense of liberty are a major part of Adm. Rickover`s legacy . . . we have lost a great American.``